Nadia Anjuman attended the Golden Needle Sewing School as a teenager in Herat, Afghanistan, in which a group of women gathered to meet and discuss literature with local professors under the guise of practicing needlepoint (a pastime approved by the Taliban government). In 2001, with Afghanistan's liberation from the Taliban, Anjuman began attending Herat University and soon published a book of poetry titled Gul-e-dodi (Dark Flower). Her readership was not limited to Afghanistan—Gul-e-dodi found readers in Iran, Pakistan, and beyond. She continued to write poetry despite the objections of her husband and his family, and she was set to publish a second volume of poetry in 2006 titled Yek Sàbad Délhoreh (An Abundance of Worry). In November 2005, Anjuman's husband beat her and Anjuman ultimately died from the altercation. In 2007, Anjuman's complete works were published in the original Dari by the Iranian Burnt Books Foundation. Gul-e-dodi has been reprinted three times, selling over three thousand copies.

Diana Arterian was born and raised in Arizona. She currently resides in Los Angeles where she is pursuing her Ph.D. in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California. Diana is a poetry editor at Noemi Press, and a managing editor and founding member of Ricochet. She is the author of Death Centos (Ugly Duckling Presse), and her writing and translations have appeared in Aufgabe, Black Warrior Review, DIAGRAM, and The Volta, among others.

Marina Omar was born in Afghanistan and has worked as an interpreter for Afghan refugee families. She is currently a doctoral candidate in foreign affairs at the University of Virginia.